European ICT Conference on
Research and Technology Development

We are delighted to invite you to the "European ICT Conference on Research and Technology Development" that will take place on January 29-30, 2007 in the conference center of Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel in the most attractive city of Turkey, Istanbul.

A highly informative meeting agenda has been prepared that could be beneficial for your accession to the 7th Framework Programme.

This 2-days conference will host many important speakers from European Commission, European ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Company Leaders and European Technology Platforms. The event will be dynamic with interactive parallel networking, information sessions and trainings.

Latest ICT trends, technical information on 7th Framework Programme  (FP7) 2007-2013, new policies and strategies on EU Framework Programmes will be presented at the conference. Innovative project ideas of ICT SMEs will be discussed and partners will be matched.

The lunch, the coffee breaks with special Turkish tastes and a gala dinner will be relaxing breaks for networking.

Sessions of the event will include:

• Presentations from the representatives of European Commission (high level bureaucrats from DG Research, DG Enterprise and DG Information Society),
• Presentation by representatives of the European Investment Bank,
• Information sessions on Technology Platforms,
• Presentations of on-going R&D projects funded by the European Commission in the ICT field,
• Presentations by representatives from big companies (mainly sponsors) regarding their ideas for common projects together with the corresponding participating SMEs,
• A training session on step-by-step proposal preparation procedures,
• Networking Sessions of the event will include:
  • Presentations of project ideas will be given by potential coordinators and/or partners
  • Partner-project match for SMEs, companies, academic institutions, public organizations, research institutes.

We expect your interest in our ICT Conference and hope to see you in Istanbul.

EASIER: Engaging regional SMEs within the ICT sector in EU research The EASIER project will increase the ICT research activity and strengthen the competitiveness of ICT SMEs in Europe. Working in sixteen European regions the project will catalyse EU RTD projects by drawing on the strengths of existing regional networks and building a new trans-national partnership to boost ICT SME participation in European research programmes.

SEE-INNOVATION: Facilitating innovation for ICT SMEs in South Eastern Europe SEE-Innovation is a Specific Support Action aiming to assist SMEs from candidate and third countries from the region of South Eastern Europe (SEE) to participate actively in EU-funded research in the field of Information Society Technologies.